During an appearance at the ATX Television Festival At Home, The Mandalorian executive producer Jon Favreau admitted that it was a "miracle" the existence of Baby Yoda didn't leak online before the show premiered on Disney+. There were no hints at all about him until those final few seconds of the premiere, and Disney's merchandise team are only now beginning to catch up!
Reflecting on "Chapter 4" director Bryce Dallas Howard bringing her kids to work with her, Favreau said (via ComicBook.com): "What a miracle that with all the kids on the set and how fixated they were, that the secret never came out that the baby was in the series at all."
"It was a real testament to Bryce that somehow she got her kids not to tell every single person they had ever met about meeting him." Howard, meanwhile, added, "I would remind my kids every day once they were going to school, 'What do we not talk about? Baby!'"
Disney made sure not to send out screeners for The Mandalorian in advance, and missed out on selling Baby Yoda toys over the Christmas period to ensure there were never any leaks. Was that the smartest business decision? Possibly not, but it meant that fans tuning into the Disney+ series for the first time were greeted with something of a rarity these days: a legitimate surprise.
What are your thoughts on how The Child's existence was kept a secret?
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